Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Over the last 12 months, we have witnessed the most severe outbreak of avian influenza in Wales and across Great Britain. This has been the largest outbreak of an exotic notifiable disease in animals since the catastrophic outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001. Great Britain is not alone in this. This strain of AI is affecting birds in most of Europe, and parts of Asia and North America.

The current outbreak has been unique in its nature. Previously, AI occurred only in some winters, as a result of carriage by winter migrant wildfowl. When those birds left our shores, the disease did also. This year, we have seen the H5N1 strain spread to some resident wild birds, causing devastation to some sea bird colonies, resulting in the infection persisting over the summer, and we are now seeing outbreaks in domestic birds this autumn.

As always, we've taken a science-led approach to containing this severe incursion of disease, with the scientific knowledge developing as the outbreak evolves. In response to the changing pattern of disease threat, we have continued surveillance of AI in wild birds and maintained the trigger points for investigation of dead wild birds in Wales, despite obvious resource pressures to increase that threshold.

We've worked across Government, agencies and stakeholder groups to enable publication of the joint mitigation strategy for wild birds for England and Wales. This strategy sets out practical guidance for land managers, members of the public and ornithological and environmental organisations, in response to the threat of AI to wild birds.

Of course, disease does not respect borders and, throughout this outbreak, we've worked closely with counterparts in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Government to lead a coherent and joined-up response to tackling AI, whilst responding to the world-class scientific evidence and advice provided by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. 

The threat of AI to both kept and wild birds is reviewed weekly. In response to increased risk levels, the Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales declared an all-Wales AI prevention zone on 17 October 2022. The AIPZ requires all bird keepers, regardless of the number of birds kept, to adopt simple but essential biosecurity measures to keep their birds safe from infection. This year, we have tightened up these measures and included a new requirement to keep kept birds off land known to be frequented by wild waterfowl or contaminated with their droppings. The experience of so many outbreaks of AI in the past year has taught us how infection is being spread to kept birds. Our AIPZ measures are designed to close off these routes of spread and they must be applied rigorously by all keepers. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank keepers across Wales who are adhering to the biosecurity measures we've already implemented in Wales to protect their birds. Your efforts have resulted in Wales having only two reported cases of AI since October 2022.

Yesterday, mandatory housing of birds came into force in England. Wales, along with Scotland and Northern Ireland, has not introduced a similar requirement. This reflects both the different scale and nature of AI across different parts of the UK. Fortunately, in Wales, we have not seen anything like the number of outbreaks in England, which would be required to justify any such housing order. Furthermore, the scientific advice of my interim chief veterinary officer is that, for Wales, the biosecurity requirements of our AIPZ are currently appropriate and sufficient to contain the AI threat. However, we keep the situation under daily review and stand ready to do what is necessary to protect our birds and the livelihoods and well-being of those who keep and care for them. My decision on whether or not to mandate the housing of birds in Wales will be based on scientific evidence and veterinary advice, and will balance potential protective effects against the potential harms of housing birds that would otherwise have been allowed outside.

In March 2021, in consultation with the industry, we introduced amendments to legislation to allow for the use of reusable and sustainable egg packaging for the movement of eggs during AI outbreaks, as well as changes to movement requirements to ensure the welfare of birds. We have facilitated over 3,000 licence applications, ensuring that movements of birds and their products from higher risk zones could happen safely and with minimal risk to disease spread.

I would like to thank the poultry industry in Wales, and all those who keep birds, for their continued engagement and constructive advice in the fight to control this terrible disease. I would also like to thank our vets, public authorities and bird keeping and show societies across Wales. You have all played a key part in protecting birds across Wales.

Finally, I would like to say a few words about the wider significance of AI to our society. The H5N1 strain we are currently battling causes severe disease only in some species of birds. Most of our common garden birds currently seem to be resistant to infection and not involved in spread, so it is safe and desirable to continue to feed them in our gardens this winter. The risk to human health from this strain is very low and poultry produce is safe to eat. Nevertheless, all caution should be taken to avoid or reduce contact with potentially infected birds. I would like to commend the excellent work of Public Health Wales in working closely with my officials to ensure the risk to people remains very low. As we move into the winter season, it is imperative we continue to work constructively together to protect our birds from an unprecedented incursion of disease through rigorously following simple biosecurity measures. Diolch.